Liquid air boiler



Au 3, 1948; G, D'E W D 2,446,498

LIQUID AIR BOILER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1945 Aug. 3, 1948. G.T. UNDERWOOD LIQUID AIR BOILER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27, 1945 i kI l l l l l l L 1 l l I Q l l l I l f l Inventor 1 and p i e z' -W rn.tlikefnum ralsl iert 'i ei Patented Aug. 3, 1948 The presentfinventionrelates to: a new-and use ful impmvement=in -*liquid airboilers; and -moreparticularly to 'a device of thi s -c' -haracteradapted forgeneratin'g compresseel airfor'use as'-'a sourceof powerforvarious purposeswsunlras refrigera tio'nplant -'-or =-ioi- 'operating'--rectory-mining rnagchinery-g or for othersusefu-lpurpose A furtherobj'ectpftheinverrti an to-provide an apparatus of this characterbTmeansofiwhi'ch atmospheric' temperatures "is :ntiliz'ed "for? evapo ratirigth' liquid air and-oollecting-the resultant" air underpliessuretobe usedfor'operating varieous. types of -*powerplants:**

A iurther'pbj'ect of theiinventiion'is to provide an apparatuslofthischaracterof simpleandprac' ticalaconstructionywhichiseffici'e'nt'andreliable? in operati'on," inexpensive to"manufa'ctureland in; stall in assembled relati'on andwhiclrjsotherWis'e'welladaptedfor the purposes 'for'iwhi'chthe sameisintended.

Other'objects andadvantagesreside'in thE'dd-f' tails of onstruction' andoperation asjmoreiully hereinafter described and idlainiedgief erencerbe;

i 111ml: wi e: a com a y .di w-vi jii nnms p 's'throueho tiar tiir i hFigure? l, is a sidejelevational'y ewiof' thepres ent liquid airnoiletapparatus; withpartythereei of firokennway and showrrinsection;

Figure. 2 .is-an,.enlarged sectional view of the" two-way control valve.

Figure 3 is a top.plan.vniew .g..

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantiallyiion'aline 4+4ofiFiguretl, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional :aview of. the pressureoperated.systemiortthetcontrolevalve.

Referring'now to the drawings indetail wherein for thepurpose ofillustratioml have disclosed may be supplied to the tank' and the tankis also provided withaa saiet-y -valve 1 of -conventional construction.

The tank 5 is supported in an elevated position by means of suitablesupports 8 and to the bottom of the tank is connected a pipe 9 in whicha two-way valve I0 is positioned for controlling the flow of liquid airby gravity to a series of boiler tubes H in the form of a group ofupright coils and through which the liquid air flows by gravity asindicated by the arrows in Figure 1, the valve l0 also regulates theflow of liquid through a feed pipe l2, leading directly to the bottomportion of a compressed air tank 13. The pipe I2 and. tank lected: inthetan'k; A supply 1 piped leads from :1

2 iii 5 are coveredtwitnt' a. suitableheatinsnlatioznmaeaterialzl 4; v

The iboiler :tubes:or:1coils l I? are 6Xp0SBd=-t0fiatmospherictemperature: andairzzislolowmoversth coils by: means LOf' anelectric famlfitrnountedcin an elevated position abovez thezcotlsfianone 'endwi thereof :by meansiof a bracketfiztfi fsecuredetoione end ofthe tank 5.

As the liquid lair passes 'througlr rthewboilei' -w' tubes or'coils l l;and: issubiectedato atmospheric temperature; the liq'uid 3 air willevaporatei toithus increase "the air pressure. The-lower endiot thecoils i are connected to the pipe kl adiacent the tank 5 3 so that-thecompressed air is ted =and'coithe tank 13 for utilizingthe compressectainlfon any useful =purpose suoh as operatin oa pressed air engine orfor-'other'work.

The flow of liquidair entering the "boilertimesor coils H and the pipeI2 is contrOlled bfi-air pressurein the coilsthrough-the medium 'of apiston i8 mounted in a cylinder l9 connected to'one" of the lower tubesii; the piston having a piston" rod -2 il projecting outwardly v or thecylinder and connected =to =a lever 2li for operatingthe-valve l0 by-alink 22.

The valveis shownin detail-inFiEur-e '2 ofthe drawings and is operableby the' lever 2| toreguelate the volume of liquid -air enteringjthe-boner tubes ii and piped 2 i in' the' manner ads-indicated inaccordan'ce with air pressure *in the boiler tubes' l- I i i Tliepistoni8 works against the tensionaof a coil-spring 23 mounted ona rod -2 4onn'ected at f one'end to the outer end of th'lever i P and hav-=- ingitsother end loosely 'positione'd in' the free endof an arm 25 which--ispivoted-as at zfi to'on end of: -tl1e tank 5. I The arm= 2 fi 'isseoured in pivotally adjusted position :by mea-ns of a screw 2'! and bymeans of- -vvhich {the -tensionaof- =the spring 23 is regulated;

More or-lessmoisture in the-atmosphere causes frost to accumulate *on-=the b oiler tubes tor coi-ls H and in order to prevent theaccumulation of frost on these tubes, I provide each of the tubes with aplurality of scraper rings 28 slidably mounted on the tubes, the ringson the vertically spaced tubes of each coil being connected for uniformsliding movement by rod 29.

Each tube l I is provided with a pair of scraping rings 28 secured inlongitudinally spaced relation from each other by means oflongitudinally extending connecting rods 30 so that the rings will slideas a unit on the tube. The connecting rod 30 of adjacent coils projectlaterally toward each other in overlapping substantially closed spacedrelation as indicated in Figure 4 of the drawings whereby frostcollected on the rods 30 will be scraped by the overlapping connectingrods during the sliding movement of the rings on the tubes. The groupsof rings 28 for each of the coils are slidably actuated by means oflongitudinally extending screws 3| threaded through arms 32 projectingfrom the vertical rods 2}), the screws being journaled in brackets 33 atthe ends of the coils and have bevelled gears 34 secured at one endthereof operatively engaged with similar gears 35 secured on atransversely extending shaft 36 operated by an electric motor 37.

The gears 35 for the screws of adjacent coils are arranged for operatingthe screws in opposite directions so that the rings 28 of adjacent coilswill move in opposite directions during their scraping action to thusproduce a scraping action between the overlapping connectors 30.

The motor 31 is reversed to cause a forward and backward slidingmovement of the rings 28 by means of stationary contacts 38 connected tothe motor and engaged by a movable contact 39 carried by one of thescrews.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of theconstruction, operation and advantages of the device will be quiteapparent to those skilled in the art. A more detailed description isaccordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A liquid air boiler comprising a reservoir adapted to contain liquidair, a compressed air tank, a pipe connecting'the reservoir to the tank,a coil connected at each end to the pipe, and exposed to atmospherictemperature to evaporate liquid air contained therein, a two-way valveregulating flow of liquid air through the pipe and coil, and a pressureoperated piston in the coil for operating the valve.

2. A liquid air boiler comprising a reservoir adapted to contain liquidair, a compressed air tank, a pipe connecting the reservoir to the tank,a coil connected at each end tothe pipe, and exposed to-atmospherictemperature to evaporate liquid air contained therein, a two-way valveregulating flow of liquid air through the pipe and coil, 2, pressureregulated piston in the coil, and an operating connection between thepiston and the valve for operating the valve in accordance with themovement of the piston.

3. A liquid air boiler comprising a reservoir adapted to contain liquidair, a compressed air tank, a pipe connecting the reservoir to the tank,

4 a coil connected at each end to the pipe, said coil being positionedin the path of air circulated at a temperature higher than that of theliquid air to evaporate the liquid air, a valve regulating flow ofliquid air through the pipe and coil, and a scraper mounted for movementalong the coil.

4. A liquid air boiler comprising a reservoir adapted to contain liquidair, a compressed air tank, an insulated pipe connecting the reservoirto the tank, an evaporator connected adjacent the ends of the pipe,valve means in the pipe controlling the flow of liquid air through thepipe and into the evaporator, said evaporator including a plurality ofcoils having spaced parallel tubes, and scrapers slidably mounted onsaid tubes.

5. A liquid air boiler comprising a reservoir adapted to contain liquidair, a compressed air tank, an insulated pipe connecting the reservoirto the tank, an evaporator connected adjacent the ends of the pipe,valve means in the pipe controlling the flow of liquid air through thepipe and into the evaporator, said evaporator including a plurality ofcoils having spaced parallel tubes, scraper rings slidably mounted onsaid tubes, connecting rods between the rings of each coil for uniformsliding movement, and gear drive means for moving the ringslongitudinally of the tubes in opposite directions.

6. A liquid air boiler comprising a reservoir adapted to contain liquidair, a compressed air tank, an insulated pipe connecting the reservoirto the tank, an evaporator connected adjacent the ends of the pipe,valve means in the pipe controlling the flow of liquid air through thepipe and into the evaporator, said evaporator including a plurality ofcoils having spaced parallel tubes, scraper rings slidably mounted onsaid tubes, connecting rods between the rings in longitudinally spacedgroups for uniform movement and including longitudinally extending bars,the bars of adjacent coils being arranged in overlapping scrapingrelation, operating screws for the rings of each coil oppositelyarranged gear means communicating with each of the screws, means foroperating the rings of adjacent coils in opposite directions,andelectrical contact means for reversing the operation'of said screwsupon completion of the travel of the rings in one direction.

GEORGE I. UNDERWOOD.

' file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 7 Name Date 2,351,131 Kerr June 13, 1944FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 385,833 Great Britain Jan. 5, 1933

